Q&A Game Play Advice and General Discussion

[AAA Battery]

I agree with Beginner.

Guess that's to be expected. Some characters are very basic.

Fox has a weird gap between the Novice players and the ones that know what they're doing.

I guess so. I felt he was too precise for beginner, but intermediate may be a better fit since he's also VERY easy to kill.

Link is borderline for me, similar to Fox.

Agreed. Link has some tools that could make him pretty tough to use effectively. Toon Link really just needs to know to Glide Toss.

Samus may be easier, might not be.

I think novice is enough. She doesn't have a very good neutral game so I feel she encourages playing with more thought and space.

Toon Link is pretty straightforward as well. Just learn glide tossing and you're good.

Ditto.

Charizard doesn't seem all that difficult to me, nothing that would separate him from the characters in Novice.

That's pretty true actually. Novice really may be a better fit.

Pikachu is fairly advanced, not intermediate.

If Esam is anything to go by, Pikachu IS a tough one to use.

Dr. Mario is not that difficult, just learn a few basic techs (RAR Bair, Bair OoS, Up B OoS) and learn his combos and you're fine.

Yeah... novice then.

Falco is in the same boat as Doc.

So long as he stays in the air...

Meta Knight is easy to pick up, but hard to be proficient with. He's advanced imo. (except against floaties lol)

Fair enough.

Lucas is borderline advanced imo but intermediate is reasonable.

I can see that.

Rosalina is very intricate. Expert all the way, has the "player skill gap" effect as well. Seems easy but Luma management is a huge deal. - Expert all the way.

Maining Rosa must have softened my opinion on her difficulty..

Idk what your reasoning is for Ganon, novice imo.

I don't even know either. x_x

DK is not that tough, intermediate or novice.

Intermediate I suppose. But I don't think novice since some of his K.O. options are more situational. Cargo Up Throw to Up Air can be tough to get sometimes when killing. Though his smashes... I dunno, but I still feel Intermediate is more fitting.

You can argue for Greninja being Expert. Very technical and doesn't have any easy win strategies.

Oh yeah. VERY difficult.

Bayo is debatable too, but advanced is reasonable.

Yah

Mewtwo is really not that hard. He has very safe and easy to use options. Intermediate or easier.

I guess I'm just biased...

Palutena and Ike, advanced? They're literally all fundamentals. Intermediate or easier.

I kinda just figured that you'd have to have strong knowledge on fundamentals in order to do well. Though I can see Ike being intermediate, Palutena... probably not since she does at times struggle to kill.

I agree with all of expert except Robin and Olimar. Having a lot to micromanage and memorize is hard yes, but once you learn situational awareness and properties of moves they are not particularly demanding. Advanced but not Expert.

I can see where you're coming from with that.

And Jiggs is fairly easy to play but fairly hard to stay safe and evasive. Intermediate. Not sure about Miis.

Honestly with what little attention Nintendo paid to Jiggs, I figured that unless you were there for the lulz like Hungrybox, Jigglypuff is almost never used. Intermediate maybe, but having the worst endurance, unreliable and few setups into your trump card, and highly situational specials would warrant just being a handicap character.

The main thing with lists in general is how things compare relative to other things. For example, ZSS and Bayo seem relatively the same difficulty, but ZSS and Ganondorf do not. <--- My thought process in a nutshell.

Of course, you should really ask specific character mains about how hard a character is. Like I spent a lot of time with Robin, Fox, Rosalina, Lucina, and a few others and those are the characters I can give the most details about.

Yeah, what I heard from others actually helped influence the list. It's what lead to believing Robin would be an expert character just given what disadvantages he does have.

Thanks, by the way for your contribution.

 

[Dream Cancel]

I think novice is enough. She doesn't have a very good neutral game so I feel she encourages playing with more thought and space.

True, I guess I'm thinking of how easy it is to play defensive with Samus. Zoning feels natural with her.

So long as he stays in the air...

Falco is a bit debatable. But yeah.

Rosa must have softened my opinion on her difficulty..

I would stomp all my friends with her and then I'd take her to a tournament and get bodied (by a Roy then 6 months later by a Toon Link). Tournament level players just crap all over Luma if they get a reasonable opening. I had to work really hard to improve my neutral and Luma safety. I didn't feel like living on the edge so I switched to Robin/Fox. I swear I'm not bad it's just I'm not good enough to be consistent with her.

Intermediate I suppose. But I don't think novice since some of his K.O. options are more situational. Cargo Up Throw to Up Air can be tough to get sometimes when killing. Though his smashes... I dunno, but I still feel Intermediate is more fitting.

I was thinking about his large tilts and aerials. Intermediate is fine.

I guess I'm just biased...

I suppose the difficulty of playing Mewtwo is being a glass cannon.

I kinda just figured that you'd have to have strong knowledge on fundamentals in order to do well. Though I can see Ike being intermediate, Palutena... probably not since she does at times struggle to kill.

Mmm yeah. If fundamentals are difficult then yeah they are both advanced, they don't have any trump card to rely on like Greninja.

Honestly with what little attention Nintendo paid to Jiggs, I figured that unless you were there for the lulz like Hungrybox, Jigglypuff is almost never used. Intermediate maybe, but having the worst endurance, unreliable and few setups into your trump card, and highly situational specials would warrant just being a handicap character.

Oh, I didn't really know what you meant as handicap, I though you were joking lol.

Yeah, what I heard from others actually helped influence the list. It's what lead to believing Robin would be an expert character just given what disadvantages he does have.

I may be biased as well. I'm a Robin main so these things come naturally to me. I'm not an Olimar main but I've played some very good Olimars and their playstyle seems fairly straightforward despite the management they need to do. Expert is fine for both characters. (Just remember to compare characters in each tier)

Thanks, by the way for your contribution.

Yeah no problem. I suggest finding other tournament players (that actually do well, not people who go 1-2 or 0-2) and showing them your list. There will be a general consensus after a bit of feedback.

 

[AAA Battery]

I may be biased as well. I'm a Robin main so these things come naturally to me. I'm not an Olimar main but I've played some very good Olimars and their playstyle seems fairly straightforward despite the management they need to do. Expert is fine for both characters. (Just remember to compare characters in each tier)

Oh that brings me back to my first offline tournament... I was using Rosalina in friendlies and got bodied by a Mewtwo because... well for one, I only have a New 3DS and that was faulty with interference issues from other signals. I brung a GameCube controller for a worst case scenario, but I am not used to using it for Smash. Also, I have little to no offline experience outside of CPUs and I REFUSE to touch online play again. But at the time, I probably would feel more it was my lack of expertise that resulted in that defeat. But until I get a Wii U, I can't go back without certain defeat...

 

[DariusM27]

So... I was playing a match on FG when THIS happened!!!!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAac0ehfGFk

A stage that doesn't exist. It was very laggy, not sure why. This happened right after a server maintenance.

 

[Keeshu]

After looking into bidou at multiple places, I figured I come ask here since this seems like the best area to ask this. Even though I've played for many years, I've never used the C-stick for anything. So, should I try to pick up Bidou, or should I start using C stick for attacks?

I know bidou helps some characters more than others, and it seems like in Link's case it might be a hindrance. Which might be fine since I learned smash with Link, so I might be able to pick up the normal control scheme just for him. However, the other 5 characters that I'm trying to get used to I've seen being used to show what bidou can do sometimes. Problem is, I don't know how helpful bidou is for all these characters. Characters being Meta Knight, Samus, Cloud, Lucario and Mewtwo. However I need to play all of them more to really know who is going to be my actual main. So while I'm practicing those characters, I figured I'd get whether I should use the C stick for bidou or attacks while getting more comfortable with them.

People in my town are either too stubborn to accept help on getting better, or just don't have enough time to play smash, so the toughest opponents I'll face are going to be on For Glory or Level 50 amiibos (at least the amiibos are fun to fight against). Which definitely means I won't be tourney level so no reason to go to a tourney. So because of that I don't see myself ever getting insanely good at the game. However, that is one reason why I'm interested in bidou, because it makes things a bit flashier. Only problem is that it's going to take a bit of time to learn, which I don't always have (and there's other games trying to grab my attention too). So that kinda equals it out making it hard for me to decide.

Just curious about your opinions on the matter.

 

[Zerp]

So... I was playing a match on FG when THIS happened!!!!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAac0ehfGFk

A stage that doesn't exist. It was very laggy, not sure why. This happened right after a server maintenance.

Your opponent had mods on that would client-side enable stages for themselves in single player, but in multiplayer, an side effect is that For Glory picks up on the new stage (in this case it's Trophy Rush) and adds it to it's rotation when playing with mods, so that's probably why your there.

 

[ItsASquid]

I am SICK of being awful of this game after nearly 2 years of trying to become good. Video games are pretty much my life atm due to illness, and I want to be good at the only hobby I'm able to do, especially with a series as beloved as Smash. I play for respect, as characters like Robin and Wario, but have what seems like 100s of holes in my play I can't fix, because to be frank, I'm not intelligent enough. I can't get online at the same time as people who offer to help, due to time zone differences and have no local scene. I lose to the same things since day one, from Side-B spamming Dark Pits, to smash spamming Macs to UP B SPAMMING Dededes. No matter how much I try to analyse, how many guides I read/watch and how many games I play, I am still an awful, awful, awful player.

Please help. I want a talent in life, but I just can't figure out what to do.

 

[Illusions]

Ok so, I'm not sure if this would be the right topic for this but imo this would fall under the general discussion category of the competitive scene so I'm just going to roll with that.

I've been playing Sm4sh for about a year now. It's the first game in the SSB series that I've ever played so I'm very new to the series. Lately I've just been wondering if I'm wasting time. I saw some people in a chat group discussing this topic slightly and that's what actually got me thinking.

I mean, so many people who are a part of the competitive Smash scene have been playing Smash for years, they have experience from multiple games and they know all the techniques and mindgames and the like. Now obviously I am not as good as them, nor am I even close to the skill level that they are at. You might tell me to just practise and eventually I will get better, but as I'm practising to get as good as other players, they will just get more ahead of me as they "practise" simultaneously.

Is there any point to even try to become a competitive Smash player anymore if you are new to the scene? I do like to play Smash but in the end I don't really want to play it just casually, and I don't even have the opportunity to really do so.

 

[lavagolem123]

Quick question...is it possible to prevent the automatic fastfall when inputting a down aerial with the stick? I use the standard control scheme without any editing.

 

[Nah]

Quick question...is it possible to prevent the automatic fastfall when inputting a down aerial with the stick? I use the standard control scheme without any editing.

What controller are you using? If it's something with two sticks (GC, Wii U Pro, etc), you can perform aerials with the other stick, which'll prevent any accidental fastfalling, and that's usually part of the default control scheme for those controllers (usually by default the 2nd stick is set to Smash or Attack).

 

[Dream Cancel]

I am SICK of being awful of this game after nearly 2 years of trying to become good. Video games are pretty much my life atm due to illness, and I want to be good at the only hobby I'm able to do, especially with a series as beloved as Smash. I play for respect, as characters like Robin and Wario, but have what seems like 100s of holes in my play I can't fix, because to be frank, I'm not intelligent enough. I can't get online at the same time as people who offer to help, due to time zone differences and have no local scene. I lose to the same things since day one, from Side-B spamming Dark Pits, to smash spamming Macs to UP B SPAMMING Dededes. No matter how much I try to analyse, how many guides I read/watch and how many games I play, I am still an awful, awful, awful player.

Please help. I want a talent in life, but I just can't figure out what to do.

Well I don't really know what to say, but Izaw's "Art of Smash" videos are a good start. But you might have watched them already.

Becoming good is something that comes with awareness and comfort with the game. You've been playing the game for a long time and it seems your recognition of what's happening is good too. So you need to act on that awareness. Like seriously, you seem like you know your options, just force yourself to stop. Mac is spamming smashes? Don't shield them, jump away and punish them. Dark Pit spamming side B? Shield the thing and grab him after. Some things aren't punishable so don't feel pressured to punish all the time.

It seems like you're just having a mental block. You can get better. Stop bashing on your already low self-esteem and have some self-compassion. You may be bad, and that's ok. Just take a step back and play games with a cool head and be patient. If you're aware of what's going on and patient of what's happening to you, then the only thing that will beat you is a clearly superior player.

Ultimately, Smash may not be your talent, idk. Perhaps try other genres of games outside of fighters.

 

[lavagolem123]

What controller are you using? If it's something with two sticks (GC, Wii U Pro, etc), you can perform aerials with the other stick, which'll prevent any accidental fastfalling, and that's usually part of the default control scheme for those controllers (usually by default the 2nd stick is set to Smash or Attack).

I'm playing with a gamecube control.

 

[Nah]

I'm playing with a gamecube control.

Alright. Then like I said, C-stick should be by default either Smash or Attack, so use that instead for your aerials/dair and you'll avoid accidentally fastfalling.

 

[spooksalmon]

An original 12 Mixclip

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpz36GjfZro

 

[Ultimastrike]

So, I decided to come back to the game after...probably a year or so? I've gotten considerably better the last time I've posted in this thread, but there's something that's always been stuck with me no matter how I play:

It's knowing that I would lose. Sure, losing is ok, but about most of the time I take losing as saying 'you did horrible' at times. How can I break this mindset? I can't certainly just think that I'm going to win...one of the things I want to avoid is having an ego of sorts. Even then I dismiss wins as either a fluke or even think I didn't earn it, as if it were luck and not my own capability.

One of the other things I have issues with is actually seeing things as ok, rather than making judgements such as good or bad, which is technically the black and white fallacy. Usually when I get hit, it's bad; but I can't see anything that's usually good in a game on my side of things, yet I can see good things that others are doing either on a spectate or just my opponent.

 

[vertime]

So, I decided to come back to the game after...probably a year or so? I've gotten considerably better the last time I've posted in this thread, but there's something that's always been stuck with me no matter how I play:

It's knowing that I would lose. Sure, losing is ok, but about most of the time I take losing as saying 'you did horrible' at times. How can I break this mindset? I can't certainly just think that I'm going to win...one of the things I want to avoid is having an ego of sorts. Even then I dismiss wins as either a fluke or even think I didn't earn it, as if it were luck and not my own capability.

One of the other things I have issues with is actually seeing things as ok, rather than making judgements such as good or bad, which is technically the black and white fallacy. Usually when I get hit, it's bad; but I can't see anything that's usually good in a game on my side of things, yet I can see good things that others are doing either on a spectate or just my opponent.

Honestly, same problem here. I started focusing much more heavily on percents. I started playing it as a numbers game for example "I got their first stock, I'm probably not going to two stock them, lets just see how much damage I can deal before they kill me. They killed me, lets see if I can take it with that damage I got on them in the last stock"

Essentially, I started focusing on actual percentage over stocks. Doing that makes losing feel like you didn't get destroyed; you were only 50% behind! That's not much at all. Winning feels better as well. You end up seeing things like "266 damage dealt 136 damage taken" which is like "woah I dominated."

Anything within around 70% was a close game in my eyes, even if I got two stocked.

 

[JS.]

Hey everybody! Lately I've been playing on autopilot I guess and I'm not sure what to honestly think during a match. Could anybody give me some advice or how you think during a match?

 

[Deleted member 189823]

If you have observations or questions relating of a technical nature you should discuss them in the Mechanics & Techniques thread.

With this in mind, I'm not sure if my inquiery is well-placed. With that out of the way:

Combos.

How do they work? are they knockback-reliant? Does staling affect them negatively or positively? Do different weights mean different hitstun per characters?

I thought it was just common sense, that earlier-percent combos were supposed to work better. Turns out it isn't the case, apparently. Like, you can't start linking U-airs with Samus from 0%, as far as I know. This seems to imply it's based on the move's individual knockback, but I also heard that Stale Move Negation actually affects them positively (according to Beefy Smash Doods). Similiarly, apparently Corrin's 1% nerfs in aerials such as our F-airs actually help extend our combo game a little. I take it characters like Sheik can start stringing F-airs at like 0% because of sheer (lack of) endlag?

Like I said, it should be something really trivial, but I just don't get it.

 

[Nah]

With this in mind, I'm not sure if my inquiery is well-placed. With that out of the way:

Combos.

How do they work? are they knockback-reliant? Does staling affect them negatively or positively? Do different weights mean different hitstun per characters?

I thought it was just common sense, that earlier-percent combos were supposed to work better. Turns out it isn't the case, apparently. Like, you can't start linking U-airs with Samus from 0%, as far as I know. This seems to imply it's based on the move's individual knockback, but I also heard that Stale Move Negation actually affects them positively (according to Beefy Smash Doods). Similiarly, apparently Corrin's 1% nerfs in aerials such as our F-airs actually help extend our combo game a little. I take it characters like Sheik can start stringing F-airs at like 0% because of sheer (lack of) endlag?

Like I said, it should be something really trivial, but I just don't get it.

There's a lot of factors that can come together to make stuff combo. Knockback is the big one, but launch angle, frame data, mobility, and the attack's hitboxes themselves play a part. Sheik, despite having some of the lowest knockback and damage values in the game, combos so well because her attacks tend to send people at very good angles for followups, and requires less time to follow-up due to her great mobility and frame data.

Hitstun is directly related to knockback, which in turn is partly affected by damage (this is why sweetspot Falcon knee, despite having not hugely higher knockback numbers than sourspot knee, generates so much more knockback and hitstun than sourspot knee; the large damage difference.

So staling can help make moves chain more easily together, since the slightly lesser damage means slightly lesser knockback, which then means that you don't have to move as far to be in range for your next hit.

I'm pretty sure that the opponent's character's % also matters, since you receive more knockback the higher your damage is, obviously, which should mean more hitstun. This would be why, for example, Robin's Checkmate doesn't true combo on Dedede until later than it normally does on most of the cast. Robin's throws are weight dependent, so since Dedede is so heavy, he needs to be at a higher damage % to be in hitstun long enough for the Uair to true combo.


i have no idea if this was of any use at all

 

[Deleted member 189823]

To be honest, there go my doubts. Well-explained.

So staling can help make moves chain more easily together, since the slightly lesser damage means slightly lesser knockback, which then means that you don't have to move as far to be in range for your next hit.

Yeah, but, doesn't that also mean less hitstun? also, let's get this out of the way. I'm pretty much talking Corrin, here. Say, F-airs. Would staling them be good or bad for combos? This is important.

 

[Nah]

To be honest, there go my doubts. Well-explained.


Yeah, but, doesn't that also mean less hitstun? also, let's get this out of the way. I'm pretty much talking Corrin, here. Say, F-airs. Would staling them be good or bad for combos? This is important.

It does mean less hitstun yeah. Would it mean not enough to chain Fairs together? I don't really know how much less hitstun a stale move would do really.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

I don't think they would stale a ton, in proportion. Like, the move is really weak in itself, and it's made for combos. I think I struggled killing Jiggaly at 170 in FD Training Mode. lol

 

[Jamurai]

It does mean less hitstun yeah. Would it mean not enough to chain Fairs together? I don't really know how much less hitstun a stale move would do really.

I don't think they would stale a ton, in proportion. Like, the move is really weak in itself, and it's made for combos. I think I struggled killing Jiggaly at 170 in FD Training Mode. lol

Staling moves can definitely affect if combos work or not. For example, if MK kills Rosa with a Uair combo (in which he uses Uair 5 or 6 times in a row), if he tries to do it again next stock, Rosa can airdodge out of it. Because the Uair is staled, it does less damage and therefore less hitstun.

But this is possibly not comparable with Corrin Fair, as it does almost double the damage of MK Uair, and one probably wouldn't land it six times in a row. It really depends what the frame advantage is in Corrin's Fair > DJ Fair combo, ie. how tight it is. You could lab it (not in training mode tho).

 

[Illusions]

Is there any way to get better with my punish game and reading opponents?

I'm sure I miss a lot of punishing opportunities due to reacting too slowly or just not realizing that I could have gone for something while the other playing was experiencing lag.

What comes to reading my opponent, I try to pay attention to their play style and recognize patterns (and often I do), but I don't actually register them? For example I might know if they are about to roll, but I don't know how to react to it or just "forget" that it's a pattern of theirs in that moment.

 

[Shollyboster]

Hi guys! I will be spending all day today at Abadango Saga in San Jose California. I need to know tournament etiquette. How do I start a match? Which stages am I able to ban? What is the order? I saw a video for the same questions for a Melee tournament, but I want to know how these rules transfer over in a Sm4sh tournament. Can someone please explain to me the process?

 

[Electrix]

So my problem now is that on some days, my spacing will be fine, and on other days, it'll be godawful. Today I went from good play to horrible play after only a few hours. What's causing this, and how can I counter this effect?

 

[Sazh Katzroy]

Hey guys, I've been watching replays of my own play and realized that I have a poor neutral game. I wanted ask around and see what you do to build a better neutral. And what characters require a good neutral game to be successful?

 

[Glitchy_]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this...
I recently saw this Melee mod where you can see hitboxes, invincibility and get your character covered green while performing no action.
Is there something simular for the Wii U?

 

[JayE]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this...
I recently saw this Melee mod where you can see hitboxes, invincibility and get your character covered green while performing no action.
Is there something simular for the Wii U?

I don't think so, I haven't seen one like 20XX

 

[ぱみゅ]

Well, it is not a single, big, complete mod, but it's been worked on for a while now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgPXMIxq3Vk

 

[Glitchy_]

Well, it is not a single, big, complete mod, but it's been worked on for a while now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgPXMIxq3Vk

This is pretty close to what I'm looking for, thanks!
One important thing to me would be the indication that I'm not inputting anything.

 

[Ralugi]

I've been learning a new character. Any generql rules of thumb to train?

 

[Glitchy_]

I've been learning a new character. Any generql rules of thumb to train?

I'd say...
1. learn the movement options (float, spindash, ...)
2. Leearn the range of the attacks
3. Learn combos
4. play a lot to get the feeling for the character!!

 

[Acton]

There seems to be a fair amount of discussion in this thread on the topic of how to deal with opponents who play safe, and to be honest it's something that I struggle with as well.

I main greninja, and I seem to do well by zoning so I can get in and punish the opponent when I see the opportunity, or I can bait the opponent to approach and punish accordingly if I read the approach.

I have problems though when I'm pinned down, especially against Mario mains who approach with bair which is safe on shield and comes out so quick, and can be used twice in one short hop. I see that many Mario players mix up the timing of the bair and punish accordingly when I drop shield to either roll away to reset to neutral, or jump oos to retreat to neutral.

Greninjas fair is a good spacing tool but has moderate startup lag so it seems like a bad option to deal with Mario's bair. I feel like none of greninjas other oos options can deal with Mario's bair game either. If I just hold shield I feel like there's not enough time to reset to neutral before Mario is on top of me again with another bair.

I try to prevent getting into a situation where I'm pinned down holding shield, but it feels like it's inevitable. Ive had some luck trying to avoid the situation, but sooner or later I'm stuck in shield.

So I guess my question is two fold; how do I avoid being pinned down holding shield against Mario, and what are some good options/strategies to reset to neutral or to maybe even punish a Mario who keeps up the pressure with bair? I guess I'd really need to identify what's leading to me to be pinned down and go from there, but what would be some good general advice on avoiding that situation?

My only other thought was to mix up my spacing so the Mario whiffs the bair while he's in the air, instead of trying to punish bairs landing lag which never seems to work. I think I'd need to bait the opponent somehow, or condition them to think I'll always be spaced in such a way that they'll be able to pin me down in certain situations, but I haven't been able to identify a specific way to do that. My feeling is that a good mario main will always space his bairs correctly, but I'm trying to get away from thinking negative like that in such linear straight forward terms where I see something as an absolute situation. I just keep trying to remind myself that if I know what the opponent is going to do, and why it works in that situation that there will be a strategy to counter it. I just need to consider all the possibilities. Anyway yeah, I'm rambling now.....

 

[ItsASquid]

Why do we have good and bad days? Like some days I can challenge experts, but others I can't even beat a bike-spamming Wario.

Also is it a fair means of playing to have a number of characters Ryo style? I have to keep switching to prevent autopilot.

 

[Jamurai]

Hey guys, I've been watching replays of my own play and realized that I have a poor neutral game. I wanted ask around and see what you do to build a better neutral. And what characters require a good neutral game to be successful?

I see you main MK. This is natural, I had this problem too. Maining MK is not very helpful with regards to learning the neutral game of Smash 4. What I did to help me was to pick up a character who is pretty good at winning neutral often but has meh reward ie. the opposite of MK. For me this character was Pit, but there are others who you might find more fun, for example Charizard, DHD, or Lucina. I focussed on why I would get hit and how I hit them, what interactions led to that result. It was pretty helpful for me but I imagine it's something which could be different for everyone.

Why do we have good and bad days? Like some days I can challenge experts, but others I can't even beat a bike-spamming Wario.

Also is it a fair means of playing to have a number of characters Ryo style? I have to keep switching to prevent autopilot.

It's simply down to consistency. Some days I lose to poor players online which may put me on tilt, but this is happening less the more I play the game and get experience. The more you grind the more consistent in skill you will be.

It's definitely fair, it's completely up to you. It's helpful to main a single character because then you spend less time learning the character and more time learning the game itself. But if you really enjoy learning new characters and having a pool of characters to choose from, go for it. I realised this lately as well, I love learning what characters can do by playing them but thought it was silly because I would be inefficient with my practice. But taking the game too seriously like that defeats the whole point of it.

EDIT: Switching characters prevents autopilot but it's not a crutch you should rely on to stop yourself from zoning out and not thinking. Not autopiloting is so crucial to improvement.

 

[Ralugi]

I just got really good. I just made leaps and bounds with my new main, but I'm thinking about integrating some new tech. When do you guys think it's a good time to learn tech for a main?

 

[Glitchy_]

I just got really good. I just made leaps and bounds with my new main, but I'm thinking about integrating some new tech. When do you guys think it's a good time to learn tech for a main?

Now.
Whenever you have time to go into Training mode.

 

[Sazh Katzroy]

I see you main MK. This is natural, I had this problem too. Maining MK is not very helpful with regards to learning the neutral game of Smash 4. What I did to help me was to pick up a character who is pretty good at winning neutral often but has meh reward ie. the opposite of MK. For me this character was Pit, but there are others who you might find more fun, for example Charizard, DHD, or Lucina. I focussed on why I would get hit and how I hit them, what interactions led to that result. It was pretty helpful for me but I imagine it's something which could be different for everyone.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I'll give Lucina a try.

 

[ItsASquid]

I haven't improved at all since 3DS launch. What am I doing wrong?

The same things still get me every single time, but no matter how many tech I learn, no matter how much i watch the opponent, no matter how many replays I save, and no matter how many hours I play, I still never seem to win. People can read me like books, but I watch myself for bad habits and, for example, never roll or do the same tech twice. I can't read them at all, even if I've seen their playstyle hundreds of times before. People can style on me as the lowest tier characters without - they admit - even trying, whereas I put my all in only to lose and get teabagged for it. And all of this on the 3DS, the "easiest" option. Wii U players have actually made me cry.

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong and the gap just keeps on growing. Am I an awful player if I can't improve in a matter of years? Others can become experts in a day, and brand new players crush me. I just want to be talented at something, and Smash is all I've got due to disability. I try harder than anyone but I still just lose lose lose.